Improvement in potato-diggers



S. E. ANTHQNY. Improvement in Potato -Diggers.

Patented April 25,'187L gmmm.

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1 Nrri: STATES ATnN-r Fries,

SHERMAN E. ANTHONY, OF STILLVATER, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN POTATO-DIGGERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 114,088, dated April95, 1571.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, SHERMAN E. ANTHONY, of Stillwater, in the county ofSaratoga and State of New York, have invented a new and ImprovedPotato-Digger; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full,clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which-Figure 1 is a plan view; and Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation in the lineac m, Fig. 1.

This invention relates to a machine that first loosens up the roots andearth in a row of potato hills by means of tines that run beneath thehills, said tines being inclined downward and backward and projectingtoward each other from a pair of parallel bars that are drawn along therow, one at each side of the same, said machine being also provided witha vertical disk fixed on a horizontal shaft, which is-mounted in thesame frame that supports the aforesaid bars and tines, said disk bearinga row of radial teeth, which, by the rotation of the disk, effect theseparation of the potatoes from the loosened earth.

In the drawings, A is a frame-work mounted on an axle, B, that issupported on masterwheels 0. a are the parallel bars aforesaid, whichare hung one beneath each of the side pieces of the frame A by links orhooks b at their rear ends and by a yoke, c, to the extremities of whichthe front ends of the bars a are fastened, said yoke being connectedwith the tongue I) by a clevis, d, that loosely incloses the tongue andallows the bars a to rise sufiiciently to admit of the tines c mountingover any immovable obstacle they may chance to meet with. In thisarrangement of the bars and tines by themselves there is nothing novel.

E E are bevel-gears fixed on the axle 13, within the frame-work A.

F is a frame whose front end is provided with boxes 0, which encirclethe axle B, while the rear part of said frame rests on the hindercross-piece, f, of the framework A. A shaft, 71, is mounted lengthwiseof the frame F, the rear box, 17, of said shaft being jointed in thesaid frame, and the front box, 7;, of the shaft It being provided with aset-screw, 7, that passes through a curved slot, m, which runstransversely of the frame F near its front end. A. bevel-pinion, 11, isfixed on the front end of the shaft 71 and engages with either of thegears 3, according to the pleasure of the operator, the box 7t beingarranged to slide in the slot m, and the shaft 7L being by these meanscapable of being placed either at an angle with the side pieces of theframe-work A or parallel with them, in which latter case the gears Ewould have to be moved toward each other along the axle 13 until theymet the bevel-pinion n. A bow, 0, is jointed to the sides of the frontbox, 7;, of the shaft 7:, the ends of which bow, when the latter iserect, enter grooves r, that run transversely of the upper surface ofthe front piece, 8, of the frameF, the bow thus serving to fasten thebox in place. On turning the bow forward, its ends are withdrawn fromthe grooves r, and the box 7.; may then be slid along the front piece,8, to another position, in which it is fastened. by turning the bow 0upward until its ends enter other grooves r.

On the rear end of the shaft 71 is fixed a disk, 1, which bears a row ofradial teeth, a, which serve, when put in rotation by the forwardmovement of the machine, to separate the potatoes from the earthpreviously loosened by the tines c, the teeth a being made of sufficientlength to properly discharge this function. If the teeth a meet with animmovable obstacle, the rear end of the frame F may be raised far enoughto clear it.

The teeth a maybe either inclined forward, as shown in the drawings, orvertical; but I am of the opinion that the inclined position is the bestone, for thereason that when the shaft h is set at an angle with theside pieces of the frame-work A the teeth a, if inclined, enter and passthrough the earth slanting, and consequently with less friction than asthough they were vertical, the slanting position being also the mostefi'ectual for loosening the potatoes, while after coming out of theearth the teeth w, by the time they reach the height of the frame-workA, are about parallel with its rear end, and consequently leave clearspace between themselves and the frame for the passage of potatoes andvines.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. The combination of the tined disk 15 a, shaft 71, journalbearings t7', bevel-pinion a,

bevel-gear E, axle B, and frame Af, when all To the above specificationof my invention saidparts arearranged asshown and described. I havesigned my hand this 9th day of Sep- 2. The disk t, provided with theteeth u, and tember, AJD'. 1870.

combined with the shaft h and frame F in the manner described and forthe purpose of enabling the shaft h'to be set at an angle with the sidepieces of the frame A, if desired.

S. E. ANTHONY. \Vitn esses:

Tnos. D. D. OURAND, CHAS. A. PETTIT.

